ARTICLES ABOUT CONSUMER SPENDING BY DATE - PAGE 4

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. consumer credit rose in October at its fastest pace in five months, a positive sign for consumer spending in the fourth quarter. Total consumer credit increased by $18.2 billion to $3.08 trillion, the Federal Reserve said on Friday. Economists polled by Reuters had expected consumer credit to rise $14.5 billion in October. The Fed revised upward its estimate for credit growth in the prior month. Revolving credit, which mostly measures credit-card use, climbed $4.3 billion.

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese retail sales rose 2.3 percent in October from a year earlier, data showed on Thursday, in a sign that consumer spending could be picking up. That compared with the median forecast for a 2.1 percent annual increase, data by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry showed. To view full tables, go to the website of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry at: http://www.meti.go.jp/english/statistics/tyo/syoudou/index.html (Reporting by Stanley White; Editing by Chang-Ran Kim)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. economic growth likely slowed a bit in the third quarter as consumers kept a lid on spending, supporting the Federal Reserve's decision to maintain its current pace of bond purchases to stimulate activity. Gross domestic product probably expanded at a 2.0 percent annual rate, according to a Reuters poll of economists, moderating from a 2.5 percent clip in the second quarter. The anticipated deceleration will also reflect a pullback in business spending and some ebbing in home building as a run-up in interest rates over the summer took a toll.

LONDON (Reuters) - The Bank of England is likely to raise interest rates in the second half of 2015, before unemployment hits the 7 percent threshold at which it has said it would consider tightening monetary policy, a leading British think-tank said on Tuesday. The National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) forecast that Britain's unemployment rate would not drop below 7 percent until early 2016, longer than most investors think and slightly earlier than the BoE's forecasts.

* Core retail sales rise 0.5 percent in September * Consumer confidence falls sharply in October * Producer prices dip 0.1 percent on month, up 0.3 percent on year * Year-on-year home price increase largest in seven years By Lucia Mutikani WASHINGTON, Oct 29 (Reuters) - A gauge of U.S. consumer spending rose in September as Americans likely snapped up Apple's new iPhone and bought leisure goods, but falling car sales pointed to sluggish economic growth. The signs of strength could be short-lived as other data on Tuesday showed consumer confidence tumbled in October as a partial government shutdown rattled households.

The Commerce Department said on Tuesday retail sales excluding automobiles, gasoline and building materials, increased 0.5 percent last month after a 0.2 percent gain in August, as Americans likely snapped up Apple's new iPhone and bought leisure goods. The so-called core sales correspond most closely with the consumer spending component of gross domestic product. Core sales last month were boosted by a 0.7 percent advance in receipts at electronics and appliance stores. Economists polled by Reuters had expected core retail sales to increase 0.4 percent in September.

George Miller (“ ­Abolishing minimum wage ," Voice of the People, Oct. 27) claims that eliminating the minimum wage is the key to economic growth. In reality, it needs to be raised. When companies don't pay their employees enough to live on the rest of us get stuck with the tab for public services, so our tax dollars are subsidizing corporate profits. A recent study by researchers at the University of California at Berkeley found the cost of public assistance to fast food workers was $1.04 billion per year in food stamps and $1.91 billion in Earned Income Tax Credits.

TOKYO (Reuters) - Consumer spending in Japan jumped in September as shoppers frontloaded purchases before a sales tax increase next year, a boost to government efforts to spark demand and end 15 years of deflation. The 3.7 percent annual gain in household spending was the strongest in six months and blew past the median estimate for a 0.5 percent rise, data from the Internal Affairs Ministry showed on Tuesday. Retail sales rose 3.1 percent in September from a year earlier, more than the median estimate for a 1.9 percent annual increase, as consumption rebounded from a dip in the middle of this year.

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese household spending rose 3.7 percent in September from a year earlier in price-adjusted real terms, government data showed on Tuesday, in a sign that consumer spending may have recovered from a slight dip. The rise was more than economists' median forecast for a 0.5 percent annual increase and followed a 1.6 percent decline in the year to August. Spending in September rose 1.6 percent from the previous month in seasonally adjusted terms as households spent an average 280,692 yen ($2,900)